Hold Me Through The Night
by TTCyclone
Summary: Natalie gets into a fight with her dad. Gabe helps her get through it, whether she knows it or not. Oneshot, Gabe/Natalie Brother/sister feels.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters. :/

**A/n:** I literally just watched Next to Normal about two hours ago and I'm drowning in feels. Send help. I really wanted more of an interaction with Gabe and Natalie, because I see Gabe being this adorable/dorky big brother who looks out for Natalie even though she can't see him. So this happened. (I may or may not have gotten teary eyed though writing this. Dead!brother feels, UGH.)

* * *

The door to Natalie's room slammed shut with a bang. The brunette flopped face-down on her bed, burring her head into her pillow and let out a muffled scream. She screamed and screamed until her lungs burned from lack of oxygen. It was only until she began to feel lightheaded did she roll over onto her back.

(Gabe crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against her door. He frowned, "You shouldn't have yelled at him.")

Her father and she had just gotten into another fight. He had accused her of stealing some of Mom's old pills from out of the bathroom cabinet. She vehemently denied this, even though it was true. The last thing Natalie wanted was his nose in her business, or worse—his pity.

("He's just worried about you," Gabe pointed out. "He's a pain in the ass, but that's his job. You know how hard it is for him to look after you without Mom here.")

Mom was still in the hospital, still recovering from her shock therapy. It would be about another week before she was able to come home. Despite her recent distance from her parents, Natalie did miss her mother.

(Gabe sighed, uncrossing his arms and pushing off the door. "I miss her too." He smiled dryly. "At least you can see and talk to her every day.")

From the pocket of her jeans, Natalie's phone began to vibrate. Huffing in frustration, the brunette fished around in her pants before pulling out her cell phone. The caller i.d. read _Henry_. Natalie groaned and threw it down on the bed before rolling back over to bury herself in her pillow once more.

The phone continued to vibrate until the call went to voicemail. (Gabe sat Indian style on the foot of her bed. He titled his head, glancing from his sister to her phone.) There was a few moments of silence before the phone began to vibrate again. Natalie nearly shrieked.

She sat up and snatched her phone from the bed. She picked it up and snapped, "Henry, I don't really want to talk right now."

("Well that was rude," Gabe said, arching an eyebrow at her behavior. "Why is this guy smitten with you again?")

"Yeah…Yeah…I might be able to, I don't know…Henry…Henry, I have to go. Okay. Bye," she clipped, hanging up. Natalie dropped her phone onto the mattress. (Gabe watched it bounce from the force she had thrown it down with.) She sighed heavily and covered her face with her hands.

("Aw, he can't be that bad!" chirped Gabe. "He calls you at least nine times a day. Kinda clingy. But he has nice arms and a cute smile! Not that I was looking. But totally approved baby sister dating material!")

With Mom in the hospital and Dad breathing down her neck, Natalie wanted to escape from her home more than ever. She had been taking a different color of pills every hour and spiking her drinks with the tiny cask of vodka she now carried around in her purse. She had tried to persuade Henry to let her smoke a drag with him, but he didn't let her, saying that she needed to slow down or she would kill herself.

Funny. Death seemed like such a good alternative to her life right about now.

Not only was her family screwed up, but her grades were sliding. She was now failing physics and she completely gave up on attending her weekly piano session with the music teacher at school. Nether of her parents knew yet, but it wouldn't be long before the school sent home a message. They would be suspicious why a straight A student was suddenly getting Ds and Cs. Natalie would use the explanation of "family troubles".

If only they knew.

("You're…upset," Gabe said, his brow furrowing as he tilted his head in confusion. "It's not just Henry and Dad, is it?")

Natalie felt like she was drowning. She was under so much stress, she needed a release. A single sob racked through her body.

("Natalie?")

She needed her pills.

("What is it? What else is there? Tell me! Oh god, you can't hear me. Please, Natalie, I'm alive, I'm _here_. Tell me.")

Natalie sat up straight and quickly whipped the tears from her cheeks. She got up from her bed and walked over to her dresser. Pulling open her underwear drawer, she fished around until her hands came in contact with the smooth plastic bottle that had been the release of all her stresses.

(Gabe stood up and padded over to the dresser. He stood behind her, frowning.)

She sniffled and uncapped the bottle, dumping two or three light blue pills into her hand.

("Natalie, come on. You don't need to do this. I know how must feel, but you don't have to drug yourself," Gabe urged. "Just get back in bed and do…_girly stuff_. Paint your nails, or something.")

Natalie sobbed again. Taking these made her think of Mom. Was Mom scared in the hospital, away from her family and those who she held most dear? Was she still crazy? Was she cured like the doctors promised she would be? Or, oh god, what if she was worse? What if she had finally been pushed over the cliff of insanity and would be locked up in an asylum for the rest of her life?

She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. This is why she needed to do this. She needed to get rid of the pain.

("Natalie, no, no, stop it!" Gabe nearly was screaming in her ear. "Natalie! Put that bottle down!")

"_Natalie!"_

The brunette jerked and whirled around. It felt like there had been hot breath on her ear and she could have sworn that someone had said her name.

(Gabe stared into his sister's tear filled eyes in disbelief. She had just heard him.

"Can you see me?" he dared to ask. She looked right through him. "Natalie. Please.")

Natalie scanned her room, now feeling a bit shaken. She jumped a little at the sound of her father walking through the hall to go into his room. When she heard his bedroom door shut, she sighed shakily, her shoulders slumping.

She couldn't do it. At least, not tonight.

Natalie put the pills back into the container one by one, listening to the soft clacking they made when they made contact with the other pills. (Gabe smiled softly. "That's my baby sister.") Recapping the bottle and stuffing it back into the drawer, Natalie trudged back over to her bed and slipped under the covers.

Facing the wall, she curled up into a fetal position and let the tears she had been holding back stream freely down her face. She bit her lip to hold back her sobs, but one or two ripped out of her throat.

(Gabe stood from her dresser, watching Natalie's anguish. He wished he could help her. The brother walked over to the sister and climbed onto the bed, curling himself around her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, letting her bury her face into his chest, even if she didn't know it.)

"Oh god," she whispered. "I'm a failure. Oh god, Henry hates me, Mom hates me, Dad hates me, it's all my fault—" She broke off into another sob.

("Shh," Gabe shushed her, stroking her hair. "Nothing is your fault. No one hates you.")

"I want Mom."

("I know.")

"I should have been nicer to Henry and Dad."

("I know.")

"I just want it to end."

("I know.")

She cries and cries until the tears stop flowing from her eyes. She had nothing left to give. (Gabe holds her through it all.

"Go to sleep," he tells her.)

Completely drained, Natalie finds her eyelids drooping closed, and finally she drifts off into sleep.

(Gabe pressed his forehead to hers. "I wish you could hear me," he whispers. For a while, he simply listens to her breathe. He considers leaving to go check on Mom, but thinks better of it. His baby sister needed him, and he would help her whether she knew it or not.

He kisses her forehead, and holds her through the night.)

The next morning when Natalie wakes up to sunlight streaming through her window, she finds a strange indentation in her bed. Almost like someone was lying next to her the whole night. She dismisses the thought as stress induced hallucinations. As she heads downstairs for breakfast, she can't help but think that this is the best she's felt in the morning for a long while.

(Gabe smiles.)


End file.
